RTE will soon have to update Richie Sadlier's on-screen caption to read: Richie Sadlier: Social Historian.
Through his various chats with Second Captains, no man has done more to peel back the curtain to shed light on the antics and proclivities of young Irish footballers. The zenith of this historical record is, of course, the masturbation story from the U20 World Cup in 1999.
But he told another good story on Second Captains Sunday on Radio One this morning. Nicky Byrne was the guest, and Sadlier popped into studio too, having briefly played with Byrne at Youth level with Ireland.
Their first game together has been largely lost to Sadlier's memory, although the build-up to the game remains sharp in his mind. To alleviate some boredom ahead of the game, one of Sadlier's roomates whipped out a Ouija Board, and proceeded to scare themselves stiff before the game.
Here's how Sadlier told the story:
[The first time Sadlier played with Byrne was] My first call up to the Irish underage set-up came in 1996, for a game in Tolka Park. I can't remember the opposition, I can't remember the score.
We were staying in the lodgings in UCD at the time. There would have been three or four to a room. One of the lads I was staying with got his hands on a Ouija Board. I had never seen or heard of this before, but whatever happened, happened.
The letters 'B' and 'A' emerged from the Ouija Board, and then someone decided, 'Well, that's obviously British Airways. Who's flying back to England on British Airways?'
So a load of lads spent the build-up to the game cacking themselves, thinking they had only a day to live, because their BA flight was about to go down.
More important historical work by Sadlier then, as he mitigates one of the general clichés tossed out in relation to Irish teams is that we will "fear nobody".
The show is well worth listening back to, which you can do so here.
